August 29, 2004

Buford woman to keep diary for Georgia GOP delegation

By Camie Young
camie.young@gwinnettdailypost.com

Bettye Chambers, a retired teacher who now does the Web site for the Greater Gwinnett Republican Women, was selected to attend the Republican National Convention in New York. Chambers will be transmitting photographs and daily diaries from the convention for the state of Georgia.    

LAWRENCEVILLE — Bettye Chambers expects to be the oldest blogger on the convention floor.

The 70-year-old Buford woman knows many people her age don’t even know what a “blog” is, but Chambers this week will put her computer skills to use, getting in on the action at the Republican National Convention.

A blog is a journal on the Web, and Chambers will make daily updates to http://www.gopconvention.com/.

“Lois Lane of the Daily Planet has evolved into computers,” she said with a laugh. Chambers was chosen as the daily diarist for the 135 Georgia delegates and alternates to the convention, which kicks off Monday and wraps up Thursday.

“The thing we’re mostly excited about is being a tiny part of nominating (Bush) for president,” Chamber said. The retired Tucker High School educator, who taught business and computer classes, maintains Web sites for the Greater Gwinnett Republican Women, Hall County Republicans and other civic and political groups.

But she isn’t considering the convention as her top political moment.

That honor goes to a trip earlier this year where she joined the National Federation of Republican Women at a tea at the White House, where she chatted with the country’s top Republican woman, first lady Laura Bush.

“She was without a doubt the most gracious lady,” Chambers remembered. “It was probably the highlight of my political career.”

And that career has been a long one. It began shortly after she graduated Florida State University, where “everyone was a Democrat.”

But Chambers liked Ike in the 1955 presidential race.
“The differences have become more and more pronounced over the years,” she said.

When Chambers retired in 1995, she became even more active.
“I thought, something’s got to be done about our school system,” she said.

Since then, she’s worked on local, statewide and even national campaigns, beginning with some newsletters and working her way to the World Wide Web.

Along with about a dozen Gwinnett delegates and alternates, Chambers headed for New York on Saturday, where the work officially begins on the campaign to re-elect George Bush over Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry.

“I think it’s going to be a close election, and we all have to get out and work,” Chambers said. “We can’t sit back and think we’ve got it made.”